1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to Hybrid Automatic Retransmit Request (HARQ) feedback in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
To meet the demand for wireless data traffic having increased since deployment of 4G communication systems, efforts have been made to develop an improved 5G or pre-5G communication system. Therefore, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is also called a ‘Beyond 4G Network’ or a ‘Post LTE System’.
The 5G communication system is considered to be implemented in higher frequency (mmWave) bands, e.g., 60 GHz bands, so as to accomplish higher data rates. To decrease propagation loss of the radio waves and increase the transmission distance, the beamforming, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, an analog beam forming, large scale antenna techniques are discussed in 5G communication systems.
In addition, in 5G communication systems, development for system network improvement is under way based on advanced small cells, cloud Radio Access Networks (RANs), ultra-dense networks, device-to-device (D2D) communication, wireless backhaul, moving network, cooperative communication, Coordinated Multi-Points (CoMP), reception-end interference cancellation and the like.
In the 5G system, Hybrid FSK and QAM Modulation (FQAM) and sliding window superposition coding (SWSC) as an advanced coding modulation (ACM), and filter bank multi carrier (FBMC), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) as an advanced access technology have been developed. Recently, to mitigate high propagation path loss due to high frequency characteristics in a wireless communication system using high frequencies, beamforming is drawing attention. For example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ad group is discussing service support in a small area of a 10 to 20 meter radius using the beamforming in a high frequency band of 60 GHz. According to IEEE 802.11ad, an evolved-Node B (eNB) and a User Equipment (UE) determine an optimal transmission beam and an optimal reception beam for their communication and conduct the communication using the determined transmission and reception beams using a Sector Level Sweep (SLS) or a Beam Refinement Protocol (BRP).
A frame structure for the communication between the eNB and the UE in a conventional wireless communication system carries a control signal and a data signal, based on isotropic or omnidirectional transmission and reception. However, because a conventional frame structure is not adequate for a system supporting the beamforming, a new frame structure is required for a system supporting the beamforming is required.